Gaddafi Stadium

Gaddafi Stadium
قذافی اسٹیڈیم‬
Qazzafi
Gaddafi Stadium
Ground information
Location Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Coordinates 31°30′48″N 74°20′0″E / 31.51333°N 74.33333°E / 31.51333; 74.33333Coordinates: 31°30′48″N 74°20′0″E / 31.51333°N 74.33333°E / 31.51333; 74.33333
Establishment 1959
Capacity 27,000
Owner Pakistan Cricket Board
Operator Lahore Regional Cricket Association
Tenants Lahore Qalandars, Lahore cricket teams, Lahore Lions, Lahore Eagles Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan
End names
Pavilion End
FC College End(Forman Christian College Chartered University Lahore)
International information
First Test 21–26 November 1959:
 Pakistan v  Australia
Last Test 1–2 March 2009:
 Pakistan v  Sri Lanka
First ODI 13 January 1978:
 Pakistan v  England
Last ODI 31 May 2015:
 Pakistan v  Zimbabwe
First T20I 22 May 2015:
 Pakistan v  Zimbabwe
Last T20I 29 October 2017:
 Pakistan v  Sri Lanka
As of 29 October 2017
Source: CricInfo

Gaddafi Stadium (Urdu: قذافی اسٹیڈیم‬‎ / ALA-LC: Qaẕẕāfī Isṭeḍiyam) is a cricket ground in Lahore, Pakistan. It was designed by famous architect and engineer Nasreddin Murat-Khan, and constructed by Mian Abdul Khaliq and Company in 1959. The stadium was renovated for the 1996 Cricket World Cup when it hosted the final. The headquarters of the Pakistan Cricket Board are situated at Gaddafi Stadium making it the home of Pakistan cricket team. The stadium has a capacity of 27,000 seats, making it one of the biggest in Pakistan.[1][2]

Ground history

Originally Lahore Stadium, the ground was renamed in 1974 in honour of the former Libyan President Colonel Muammar Gaddafi following a speech he gave at the 2nd Organisation of the Islamic Conference meeting in Lahore in favour of Pakistan's right to pursue nuclear weapons.[3] The stadium houses the headquarters of the Pakistan Cricket Board.[4]

In 1995–96, the Gaddafi Stadium was renovated by architect Nayyar Ali Dada - who is qualified from National College of Arts Lahore - for the 1996 Cricket World Cup.[4] Dada's redesign was done in the Mughal style, with red, hand-laid brickwork and arches. Dada also had plastic seating installed in place of the existing concrete benches. The lower portion under the stands was enclosed and converted to shops for boutiques and offices. Gaddafi Stadium was the first in Pakistan to be equipped with modern floodlights having their own standby power generators.[5]

On 23rd October 2011, Pakistan Cricket Board discussed renaming the stadium following the death of Gaddafi, to support the new government in Libya. The Punjab Olympic Association made a similar request in late October 2011 to the provincial chief minister, "I don't think his profile is inspirational enough to link with our cricket stadium's identity." As of April 2012, however, it does not appear that the stadium's name will be changed after all.[6]

Gaddafi Stadium being the largest cricket stadium in Pakistan used to have capacity of 60,000 spectators, until the redesigning of its enclosures reduced the capacity to 27,000.[7]

Gaddafi Stadium
A Panoramic view of Gaddafi Stadium at Night

Cricket history

Three hat-tricks have been taken at the stadium, by Peter Petherick of New Zealand against Pakistan, 9 October 1976, Wasim Akram of Pakistan against Sri Lanka, 6 March 1999 and Mohammad Sami of Pakistan against Sri Lanka.[8]

Pakistan has enjoyed some memorable moments on the ground, including a fifth-wicket stand of 281 between Javed Miandad and Asif Iqbal against New Zealand in 1976 and an innings and 324 run win against New Zealand in 2002.[9]

On 3 March 2009, the scheduled third day of second Test of 2008–09 Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan, the Sri Lankan team's convoy was attacked by armed militants at Liberty Roundabout, near Gaddafi stadium. Eight Sri Lankan players were injured, including Sri Lankan captain, Mahela Jayawardene. The Sri Lankan team was air-lifted from Gaddafi Stadium to a nearby airbase, from where they were evacuated back to Sri Lanka, this event marked the end of international cricket in Pakistan.[4]

However, on 19 May 2015, the Zimbabwe cricket team landed at the Allama Iqbal International Airport to become the first Full Member nation to tour Pakistan since March 2009.[10] On 5 March 2017 the final of the 2017 Pakistan Super League was played in the stadium.[4][11] Pakistan won both ODI and T20I series comfortably.

On August 2017, PCB along with ICC started to improve international cricket in Pakistan. With that, under heavy security, PCB planned World XI tour to Pakistan for three T20Is.[12][13]

In August 2017, Thilanga Sumathipala, president of Sri Lanka Cricket, said that he would like to play at least one of the three T20I matches in Lahore, Pakistan during October.[14][15][16] In March 2009, the Sri Lanka cricket team were attacked by terrorists while travelling to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Since then, the only Test side to visit Pakistan has been Zimbabwe, when they toured during May 2015.[14] Two of Sri Lanka's current team, Chamara Kapugedera and Suranga Lakmal were on the bus during the 2009 terrorist attack, and both could have been selected for the T20I squad for this series.[17]

In September 2017, the fixtures were confirmed, with the final T20I match of the series scheduled to be played in Lahore.[18] Sri Lanka Cricket said that players have a "contractual obligation" to play the match in Lahore, but it was unlikely to issue penalties to any player who chose not to visit Pakistan.[17] However, on 14 October 2017, the Sri Lankan team expressed their reluctance to travel to Pakistan, requesting that the fixture is moved to a neutral venue.[19] On 16 October 2017, Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed that the fixture in Lahore would go ahead as planned, but their limited-overs captain, Upul Tharanga, had pulled out of the match.[20] Despite the concerns from the players, team manager Asanka Gurusinha felt that a competitive squad would be named.[21] On 19 October 2017, Sri Lanka's chief selector, Graham Labrooy, said that players who do not travel to Lahore would be unlikely to be selected for the other two T20I fixtures.[22] The squad for the T20I fixtures was named two days later, with Thisara Perera selected as captain.[23]

The Sri Lankan squad arrived in Lahore under "extraordinary" security and made their way to the team's hotel in a bomb-proof bus.[24] Ahead of the T20I in Lahore, Cricket Sri Lanka's president Thilanga Sumathipala said that the team was privileged to be in Pakistan and that he would help support the country in hosting more tours.[25] Najam Sethi, chairman of the PCB, said that this fixture would be the start of international cricket returning to the country, with him expecting every country to play in Pakistan by the end of 2020.[26] Pakistan went on to win the T20I series 3–0.[27]

The venue is also hosted some of the main matches as a part of the 2018 Blind Cricket World Cup.[28][29]

Records

Test

One Day International

T20 International

Cricket World Cup

This stadium hosted six One Day International (ODI) matches during 1987 Cricket World Cup and 1996 Cricket World Cup.

1987 Cricket World Cup

16 October 1987
Scorecard
West Indies 
216 (50 overs)
v
 Pakistan
217/9 (50 overs)
4 November 1987
Scorecard
Australia 
267/6 (50 overs)
v
 Pakistan
249 (49.2 overs)

1996 Cricket World Cup

26 February
Scorecard
Netherlands 
145/7 (50 overs)
v
 Pakistan
151/2 (30.4 overs)
Flavian Aponso 58
Waqar Younis 4/26 (10 Overs)
Saeed Anwar 83*
Peter Cantrell 1/18 (4 overs)
Pakistan won by 8 wickets
Umpires: K.T. Francis and Steve Bucknor
Player of the match: Waqar Younis (Pak)
1 March
Scorecard
Netherlands 
216/9 (50 overs)
v
 United Arab Emirates
220/3 (44.2 overs)
Peter Cantrell 47 (106)
Shaukat Dukanwala 5/29 (10 overs)
Saleem Raza 84 (68)
Roland Lefebvre 1/24 (8 overs)
United Arab Emirates won by 7 wickets
Umpires: Mahboob Shah and Steve Randell
Player of the match: Shaukat Dukanwala (UAE)
  • This was the first ever official ODI between two ICC Associate teams.
6 March
Scorecard
Pakistan 
281/5 (50 overs)
v
 New Zealand
235 (47.3 overs)
Saeed Anwar 62 (67)
Robert Kennedy 1/32 (5 overs)
Stephen Fleming 42 (43)
Mushtaq Ahmed 2/32 (10 overs)
Pakistan won by 46 runs
Umpires: K.T. Francis and Ian Robinson
Player of the match: Saleem Malik (Pak)
17 March
Scorecard
Australia 
241/7 (50 overs)
v
 Sri Lanka
245/3 (46.2 overs)
Mark Taylor 74 (83)
Aravinda de Silva 3/42 (9 overs)
Aravinda de Silva 107 (124)
Damien Fleming 1/43 (6 overs)
Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets
Umpires: Steve Bucknor and David Shepherd
Player of the match: Aravinda de Silva (SL)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Gaddafi Stadium Capacity". Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "COUNTDOWN BEGIN: AROUND 27,000 FANS ARE READY TO THRONG 'GADDAFI STADIUM'". Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Murtaza Razvi (25 February 2011). "A stadium called Gaddafi". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Stadium stories: Famous Pakistan cricket grounds". Dawn. Archived from the original on 10 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  5. ↑ McGlashan, Andrew. "Gaddafi Stadium". ESPNCricinfo. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  6. ↑ "Gaddafi prepares to end long hiatus". Dawn.com. 17 April 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "PSL final tickets on sale from today". www.thenews.com.pk. Archived from the original on 24 March 2018.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 April 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "Gaddafi Stadium – Pakistan – Cricket Grounds – ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 22 August 2011.
  10. ↑ "Zimbabwe team arrives in Lahore". Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Zimbabwe Cricket confirms Pakistan tour". ESPNCricinfo. Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "Du Plessis to captain World XI against Pakistan in Independence Cup". Pakistan Cricket Board. 24 August 2017. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  13. ↑ Umar Farooq (21 August 2017). "Pakistan to host World XI series in September". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Sri Lanka 'keen' to visit Pakistan for T20s in September". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "Sumathipala calls on Asian cricket chiefs to stand together for cricket -says Sri Lanka will travel to Pakistan later this year". Sri Lanka Cricket. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  16. ↑ "West Indies, Sri Lanka to tour Pakistan following World XI visit in September". The Field. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  17. 1 2 "SLC will address player security concerns – board CEO". Sri Lanka Cricket. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  18. ↑ "Sri Lanka tour to Pakistan Tour Itinerary announced". Pakistan Cricket Board. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  19. ↑ "Sri Lanka's players reluctant to visit Pakistan". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  20. ↑ "Sri Lanka agree to play T20I in Lahore". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  21. ↑ "'Positive feedback' from players on Lahore T20, says SL manager". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  22. ↑ "SL players who refuse Lahore leg likely to miss full T20 series". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  23. ↑ "Thisara Perera to captain Sri Lanka in Lahore". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  24. ↑ "SL team surrounded by 'extraordinary' security arrangements in Lahore". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  25. ↑ "'We are happy and privileged to be here' - SLC president". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  26. ↑ "PCB chairman expects major cricket nations to resume touring Pakistan". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  27. ↑ "Pakistan cruise to win on Lahore's big night". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  28. ↑ "Blind Cricket World Cup 2018 Live Streaming". Awami Web. 10 January 2018. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  29. ↑ "Blind Cricket World Cup begins in Lahore on Monday - Samaa TV". www.samaa.tv. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
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